Presley T. Glass

Presley T. Glass
Portrait of Glass by Charles Milton Bell, taken between 1873 and 1890
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Tennessee's 9th district
In office
March 4, 1885 – March 3, 1889
Preceded byRice A. Pierce
Succeeded byRice A. Pierce
Member of the Tennessee House of Representatives
In office
1848
ConstituencyWeakley County
In office
1882
Personal details
Born(1824-10-18)October 18, 1824
Halifax, Virginia, US
DiedOctober 9, 1902(1902-10-09) (aged 77)
Ripley, Tennessee, US
PartyDemocratic
Alma materLexington (Kentucky) Law School
ProfessionPolitician, lawyer
Military service
Allegiance Confederate States of America
Branch/serviceConfederate States Army
RankColonel
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War

Presley Thornton Glass (October 18, 1824 – October 9, 1902) was an American politician and lawyer. A Democrat, he was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee.

Biography

Glass was born on October 18, 1824, in Halifax, Virginia. In 1828, he and his family moved to Weakley County, Tennessee. An attendee of Dresden Academy, he completed a course at the University of Kentucky Rosenberg College of Law.[1]

Glass read law, and in 1847, was admitted to the bar.[1] He moved to Ripley in 1849, where he began practicing law. He later worked as a merchant.[2] He owned slaves.[3][4] At age 18, he was made colonel of a militia, and during the American Civil War, was a commissary of the Confederate States Army.[1]

Glass was a Democrat.[3] In 1848, he represented Weakley County in the Tennessee House of Representatives;[5] he again served in 1882.[1] On September 20, 1884, he was nominated for the 1884 United States House of Representatives election in Tennessee, with his nomination causing controversy due to not being decided by a two-thirds majority.[6] He was a member of the House, from March 4, 1885, to March 3, 1889, representing Tennessee's 9th district. He was not nominated for the following election.[1] Ideologically, he was liberal.[7]

Glass was Christian.[2] On May 5, 1889, his house was burgled, with several gold watches and some loose cash being stolen.[8] He died on October 9, 1902, aged 77, in Ripley, and was buried at Maplewood Cemetery, in Ripley.[1][3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Bioguide Search". bioguide.congress.gov. Retrieved 2026-08-02.
  2. 1 2 "Ex-Congressman Glass Dead". The Tennesseean. 11 October 1902. p. 4. Retrieved 2026-08-02.
  3. 1 2 3 "The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Glass". politicalgraveyard.com. Retrieved 2026-08-02.
  4. ↑ "More than 1,800 congressmen once enslaved Black people. This is who they were, and how they shaped the nation". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2026-08-02.
  5. ↑ "Members of the Legislature". The Memphis Daily Eagle. 9 October 1847. p. 2. Retrieved 2026-08-02.
  6. ↑ "Trenton". The Tennesseean. 21 September 1884. p. 1. Retrieved 2026-08-02.
  7. ↑ "GLASS, Presley Thornton (1824-1902)". voteview.com. Retrieved 2026-08-02.
  8. ↑ "Col. P. T. Glass and Robert Oldham Robbed of Valuable Watches". Public Ledger. 7 May 1889. p. 1. Retrieved 2026-08-02.
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